toradora! volume 01

7/31/2019 Toradora! Volume 01

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English Translators:

Chapter 1: Kinny RiddleChapter 2: Kinny Riddle

Chapter 3: Kinny Riddle




Authors Notes: Kinny Riddle

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Toradora!

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Toradora!

!

Volume 1

Author: Yuyuko Takemiya

Illustrator: Yasu

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There is something in this world which no one has ever seen.

It is soft and sweet.

If it is spotted, I'm sure everyone will want to have it,

Which is why no one has ever seen it.

For this world has hidden it quite well, so that it is difficult to obtain.

But, there will come a day when it is discovered by somebody,

And only those who should obtain it will be able to find it.

That is all.


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Chapter 1

"Damn it!"

Seven-thirty in the morning. It was a fine day, and dim inside the

house. The house was a double-room plus kitchen apartment facing

south in a two-story detached house, about a ten minute walk from

the railway station. Rent was around 80,000 yen.

"I give up! I just can't get this right!"

A frustrated hand wiped the mist from the mirror. The run-down

bathroom was foggy due to an early shower, so that after wiping the

mirror, it returned to being cloudy. Yet it was pointless to take anger

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out on the mirror no matter how frustrated one was...

"This stuff is nothing but a rip-off!"

Make yourself gentle with floating bangs That slogan was

seen in the latest men's fashion magazine. Takasu Ryuji's bangs

were now "floating". As the article instructed, he pulled his bangs

long, blow-dried them until they stood up, and then gently rubbed

them sideways with some hair wax. He specifically woke up a half-

hour early in order to make his hair resemble that of the model's andhave his wish granted.

But even still, "Maybe I was too nave trying to change myselfjust with my bangs."

Ryuji dejectedly threw the trendy magazine which had taken a

lot of courage to buy into the bin, yet his poor aim meant it

completely missed, opening itself up as it landed and tilting all thetrash out of the bin. The open page read "You could still make it in

time for the start of school. Gentle or wild? Our journey towardsmodeling."

If it was me, I'm not sure if I want to be into modeling. Yet, Iwanted to change.

Though it ended in failure.

Feeling defeated, Ryuji wet his hands with water and messed up

his hair which he had spent so long making up. He reverted to his

usual randomly straight hair. He then knelt down to pick up thetrash that was all over the ground.


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Toradora!

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Her incredibly small hands roughly waved her fluttering hair, while

her soft eyelids covered her killing intention. Those eyes were nowas transparent as the glass eyes of a doll and stared coldly at Ryuji.

She's cute, but she's scary as well. She had a pale white face,

unbelievably long brunette hair, and tiny limbs and shoulders, while

her shiny pupils were surrounded by gentle eyelashes. She was as

adorable as a candy containing deadly toxins, as lovable as a flower

that can kill just by smell alone.

Yet when he was being stared at, Ryuji could feel the carnivore

leaping out from those eyes of hers. Of course, this was all just an

illusion, yet it felt more real than reality. The weight of the

carnivore had Ryuji pushed down on the floor, and roared with a

sound that shook deep into his blood. The sound that was produced

seemed to be saying "I can take out a guy like you anytime I want".

The sharp claws and fangs slowly approached in front of him,emanating the bloodthirstiness and smell of a beast. Compared to

her small figure, the much larger illusion that loomed before him

was ...A tiger.

"Ah, ahhah, ah, ahhh...tthat's right." Without realizing, Ryuji

began to nod and clapped his hands. So that's why she's called the

Palmtop Tiger! I wonder who gave her that name, but

" Isn't that a wonderful name?"

And such a fitting name as well, I'm impressed. The girl took a

look at Ryuji, silently uttered "dragon", and then looked at him withdisdain.

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His bag wasn't on his desk though, but then he remembered that

he had been speaking to Kitamura while on the way out, and had

placed his bag on Kitamura's desk. Once he retrieved that, all that's

left is leaving the classroom. Suppressing his anxiety, he slowlyapproached his bag, 20 cm left, 10 cm...

"AH!"

...He jumped up.

What happened?

Does Aisaka Taiga intend to stop me? Ryuji turned his head and

looked at the little doll standing by the window.

"W, what is it?"

"...W...What. Are. You. Doing?"

Something unbelievable had happened here... the Palmtop Tiger

suddenly looked very anguished to the point of fainting.

"...I, I'm just here to get my bag, and... Ai, Aisaka? What's

wrong? You've looked strange for some time now."

Her tiny cherry lips opened and closed, while she paced forwards

and backwards as though she was dancing some strange dance,while her fingers quivered before her face.

"Y, y, y, you said, your bag? But isn't your desk over there? W,w, w, why, why is it t, t, t, t, there?"

She was stuttering while admonishing Ryuji.

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"...Why is it there? I was speaking to Kitamura when I got called

out by the teacher...so I just placed it there... WHOA!"

Aisaka, who was supposed to be standing a few meters away,suddenly shortened the distance between them and appeared before

his face. Just where did she get such amazing mobility with such asmall body?

"...! ...! ...!"

"Wait, h, hold it!? Ai, Ai...saka?!"

With great strength, she began to grab Ryuji's bag which was

clutched to his chest, trying to pry it away from him.

"J, just lend it to me...! Let go!"

Under such a close distance, Ryuji could see that Aisaka's face

was redder than the sunset outside. Her cute face was distorted likea demon, and her expression was terrifying.

"Lend it... to you?! Stop fooling around...!"

"Umph~!"

He couldn't push her off, so Ryuji decided to hold his ground by

standing firm, since if he let go now, Aisaka's little body would flyoff quite far.

So much for being considerate for her.

"Uuuuuuuummmph~!"

Aisaka twisted her hips and grabbed at the bag with both arms,

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the eyes on her red face now shut tightly, while the veins on her

forehead were beginning to show. She was trying to win this by

brute force.

Finger by finger, Ryuji was slowly losing his grip on his bag.

Even his feet, which he had anchored onto the ground, werebeginning to get dragged. To put it bluntly, he was close to losing.

"H, hey, that's dangerous... Let, go, now!"

"Uuuuuuuuuummmph... Ah...? Ahhhh..."

I'm not gonna make it...! Just as Ryuji was thinking of that, he

suddenly saw Aisaka look dizzy and fall backwards, her tiny hands

spreading open towards the ground, letting go of his bag... She letgo?!

"...AHHHH!!!"

"ACHOO!"

Crash!

The "...AHHHH!!!" belonged to Ryuji, the "ACHOO!" belonged

to Aisaka, while the crashing sound was Ryuji again. They were,

respectively, Ryuji screaming in terror, Aisaka sneezing, and Ryuji

knocking his head on something.

As Aisaka had released her hands when she suddenly sneezed,

Ryuji naturally lost his balance and fell backwards. He held tight to

his bag as he fell and knocked his head on the teacher's desk.

"Owwww... That hurts! Y, you... Just what the hell were you

doing... That hurt, you know? ... I could've been killed!"

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He protested, teary-eyed.

"Ugh..."

Aisaka made a strange sneezing noise, ignoring what was going

on around her. After causing Ryuji to lose his balance, she sniffed

her nose and then collapsed in the aisle between the desks.

"Ai, Aisaka?! Hey, you alright?"

Her long hair was lying on the floor, while her tiny body curled

and moaned silently. There was no response. Could she be feeling

unwell? Ryuji rubbed the back of his head while running towards

her to have a look. The face which had been bright red a while ago

was now devoid of color, her quivering lips now as white as a pieceof paper, while her forehead was sweating.

"Whoa... You, you look pale! Are you anemic? Hey, grab myhand."

She was the same as Yasuko. This time he didn't hesitate andtook out his hand...

"...!"

The hand Ryuji held out was slapped off by Aisaka's icy cold

hand. Though she was shivering a lot, Aisaka still managed to getherself up by grabbing onto a desk.

"Ai, Aisaka! Are you alright?"

Still no response. With every step she made, the desk she held

onto would shake, while her long soft hair would flutter. Her tiny

figure seemed intent on running away as quickly as possible. As she


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bathroom. So he began to walk barefooted on the wooden tiles of

the kitchen towards the bathroom.

At that moment...

"...WHOA...!?"

He felt a cool swishing sound near his neck. As he instinctively

tried to turn around, his foot landed on a newspaper lying on the

ground and he fell beautifully backwards on all fours. Thud! He

landed on his backside, causing a tremor to go from his hips all the

way to his head, causing him to stop breathing for a moment.

"......!"

He couldn't even scream as a result.

With great intensity, something had just swished through where

Ryuji's head was just a moment before. After missing Ryuji, the

object hit something by Ryuji's side and made a loud and terrifyingsmashing sound.

"...Uuu..."

Within the dark two-room plus kitchen apartment stood a

suspicious silhouette. That person once again raised up the stick-like

object and went straight for Ryuji... Ryuji was being attacked!

But, why!? Is this a dream? Somebody help!

Ryuji rolled along the floor mutedly. Should I turn on the lights?

Or call the cops? Or the landlord? His mind was blank, he could

not think of what to do, and his body was scared so stiff that all he

could do was dodge the attacks and try and crawl towards the

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entrance, but...

"UWAAAAAAA!"

He was about to get hit! The weapon was aiming straight for his

head, out of reflex, Ryuji stuck both his hands out and tried to stop

it...

"Ah... I, I actually caught it...!"

He couldn't believe he was able to catch it, or rather, he only

caught it due to luck.

"...Ugh...!"

As the weapon was caught, the intruder tried to push through

with brute force. Ryuji too gave everything to hold back. The two

forces silently pushed against each other as their shadows fluttered

in the darkness. Upon seeing a small figure and what seemed to be

long hair over the figure... It can't be!? Ryuji seemed to have an

idea who the intruder was; in fact, he had already noticed it from thebeginning.

Gritting his teeth while holding back, Ryuji came to a

conclusion. It has to be! Who else besides that fellow could do

something this messed up!?

But just as he was about to verify the identity of the intruder...

Ahh! I'm not gonna make it! His trembling arms were about to givein, even his hard neck was near its limit.I'm gonna die...

"...Heh...AHH..."

ACHOO!

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The balance was broken in one instance!

As the strange sneezing noise was made, the incredible pressure

too suddenly disappeared, and lost out to the force that Ryuji wasstill exerting and got pushed back while yelling softly, "Ah, wah!"

Before wobbling backwards and falling softly onto the bed. Ryujiquickly stood up and turned on the lights...

"Aisaka!"

"..."

"Use a tissue, dammit!"

Ryuji tossed a tissue box towards the Palmtop Tiger, Aisaka

Taiga, who was rubbing her nose with her dress as though nothinghad happened.

* * *

Her long hair fluttered on her back, she was wearing a loose one-

piece dress, separated into many layers via the soft laces. This wasdefinitely an appropriate outfit for her small figure...

"G, give me that wooden sword..."

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Ryuji regretted not confiscating Aisaka Taiga's weapon a while

ago...

He could have taken it when he turned on the lights, he couldhave taken it while handing her the tissue, in the end, the crisis still

remained unresolved. Aisaka's eyes glittered like a tiger spotting its

prey, and began circling around the narrow room. Of course, Ryuji

also kept his distance from her, circling around the room in hisboxers.

But this can't go on forever. As he thought of that...

"Aisaka... I know what you're thinking, you want me to return

that love... letter, right? The letter that you placed in my bag by

mistake."

"...!"

Just after Ryuji got the courage to speak, at that instant, Aisaka,

who was still silently prowling a while ago, suddenly looked very

big in appearance... or that's what she appeared to be. She was like abomb about to explode... with the trigger already ignited.

"I, I'll return the letter to you! So please calm down! I didn't readanything inside!"

"... Do you think you can get away just by returning it to me?!"

She said in a deep tone that was about to leap off and attack,

"Don't be ridiculous... Since you already know the existence ofthat letter..."

Whoosh! The huge wooden blade elegantly swerved over Ryuji's


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him at a very close distance! As Aisaka's eyes glittered with anintent to kill...

"IT'S EMPTY!!!"

Ryuji's yell came just in time.

The wooden blade stopped just above Ryuji's head, very nearly

razing through some of his hair. An embarrassing silence followed.After a few seconds, she finally squeezed out a few words,

"... It's... empty...?"

Her child-like voice asked Ryuji that, to which Ryuji nodded hishead vigorously.

"T, that's right, it's empty... that's why I said I didn't see anything

inside, and, oh yeah, it's fortunate you didn't hand this to Kitamura.

Do you have any idea you were this close to becoming a major

laughing stock?"

The watery eyes widened as Aisaka stood motionless. Taking

this chance, Ryuji quickly crawled away from her and into his room

on the other side of the fusuma. His hands trembling as he

frantically tried to search for that envelope inside his bag.

"Here! You see, you see?"

With veins showing in his eyes, Ryuji stuffed the letter into her

tiny hands. Her wooden blade made a sound as it was dropped to the

ground, she began to wobble, though she still supported herself by

standing with her legs opened, and examined the envelope through

the light.

"... Ah..."

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Her little cherry lips opened slightly.

"Ah, ah... Ahhh... AHHH! UWAAA!"

With her hair in a mess, Aisaka fervently tore open the letter and

shook it upside down. After she confirmed that there was indeed

nothing inside, she turned around and looked at Ryuji with a blankexpression,

"... I'm so hopeless..."

After saying that, she slowly sat down on the floor. Her eyes,which were still wide open to the point of cracking, slowly closed.Her thin lips quavered softly, while her chin made a clicking noise.

"Ai, Aisaka?"

A compulsory shutdown...

Sitting before Ryuji, her face became pale instantaneously, andthe tiny body that was wrapped up in the one-piece dress fell down

sideways just like that in the living room of his two-room pluskitchen apartment.

"Hey! Aisaka! Are you alright?"

It all happened too suddenly, Ryuji quickly ran up and carriedthe unconscious doll in his arms.

At that moment...

Grumble~ Grumble~

"Was that... her stomach... grumbling?"

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* * *

In the Takasu residence, there was always food ready at anytime.

The garlic and ginger were all cut beforehand, while onions are

available all the time, some turnips were added, and finally some

bacon and eggs. Of course, in order to make sure there's never a lackof seasonings, the kitchen always has plenty of chicken souppowder, flavorings as well as chicken bone soup base.

A bit of castor oil was added to the one and a half cups worth of

rice, adding in some chopped turnips to give it a clearer taste. The

rice was coated in a color of yellow as egg was mixed in, so all that

was left was to add in the onion to sweeten it and the bacon to

complete it. After including some additives- a bit of pepper, salt andsome oyster sauce- the last thing was decorating it with the saved upcoriander.

Together with the soup, which only required pouring hot water

on top of some chopped onions and chicken soup base, the whole

meal was done in 15 minutes. There was even time to clean thedishes while the food was being cooked.

Though it was still 3am, Ryuji's cooking was still flawless.

"G... garlic..."

Grumble~...... Ryuji could hear her sleep-talk within thatludicrous grumble. He wondered if he should give her a push...

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"...Ai, Aisaka Taiga, wake up! If you want garlic, it's here, withcastor oil on top as well."

Ryuji softly shook the little figure that was sleeping on the bed.

"Fried... fried..."

"Yes, it's fried rice!"

"Fried... rice..."

Drool began to show at the edge of her pale lips. Since I saw it, Ican't just leave it like that. Ryuji thought as he couldn't help but

softly wipe her mouth with a tissue.

"Get up, or your rice is gonna get cold!"

Aisaka's eyelashes shuddered for a bit. To avoid touching her,

Ryuji tugged her down from the mattress by pulling on her dress.

Aisaka even twitched a bit halfway as she reluctantly sat up.

"... Ah... Eh?"

Looks like she's up. She gave a scowl and shoved off Ryuji's

hand, while suspiciously removing the wet towel on her forehead.Slightly moving her nose, she said,

"... What's that? That smell... it smells like garlic..."

Her eyes rolled all over looking around.

"Didn't I just say it's fried rice? Hurry up and eat, this will get

your blood glucose level up! Otherwise you're gonna faint again."


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short table.

"... No, it isn't like that! I... well... I saw it through the lighting."

Though it wasn't entirely correct, Ryuji had to settle for such an

answer, yet he wasn't sure whether she was even listening. Sitting in

front of the table, she flattened the tiny hill of rice using her spoon,

and then in a strangely intense atmosphere, slowly brought the ricetowards her little mouth.

Munch, munch, munch, munch, gulp. She then sipped a spoonful

of soup. Ah... And then showed a sigh of relief before sippinganother spoon. Facing Aisaka like that, Ryuji brought up the issue

he was thinking about while cooking,

"Hey, Aisaka, listen to me. It's like this..."

Munch munch munch munch

"Your letter... I mean that envelope, there's nothing to beashamed of for me to see what's inside..."

Munch munch munch munch munch munch munch, chew!

Crunch!

"I think..."

Chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp

chomp!

"Hey, listen to me!"

"Seconds!"

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"Okay."

Good thing I made extra... Ryuji muttered to himself, and

scooped up all the rice in the frying pan into the bowl, and broughtthat before Aisaka.

"Like I said... listen to me already!"

She doesn't seem to be listening. Is this what you call undivided

concentration? Just where does all the food go in that tiny body of

hers? Aisaka focused on nothing else but fried rice, fried rice, and

still fried rice... This was her personal Fried Rice Festival.

This is going nowhere, and the fried rice's gonna run out soon.

Ryuji decided to stand up and bring the birdcage from the corner ofthe living room over.

"Hey, Aisaka, come and have a look at this... it's tasty!"

"Something tasty?"

Now that he had her attention... Whoosh! Ryuji removed thecloth on the birdcage and showed her its contents.

"WAH!!!"

"Well? He looks disgusting, doesn't he?"

Past experiments have shown that only an earthquake of

magnitude 4 or above can wake up Inko-chan... A spasmodic face,

rolling white eyes, beak wide open, and his weird tongue sticking

out... The ugly sleeping face quickly worked its wonders and got

Aisaka bouncing off backwards.


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"... You're going to help me? No matter what?"

"Yes! Anything, anything!"

"You'll help in anything? You said so... You'll help me like a

dog? And do everything for me as my dog?"

"Yes, yes! I'll work hard like one, I swear! Whether as a dog or

anything, I'll help! ... So, let's end this today, okay? Okay?"

"Okay... Then I'll go home."

Looks like she has finally accepted. Aisaka picked up her

wooden blade and got up. She took a look towards the window,

there were a pair of small shoes thrown near there. So she did crawl

in through there... Aisaka turned to glance at Ryuji who was

muttering, then picked up her shoes and headed for the entrance.Suddenly she turned around,

"Hey!"

What is it now!? Ryuji made a defensive stance, but...

"Is there anymore... fried rice?"

"Huh? Oh, no... cause you ate it all."

"Is that so? Ah well."

"You're still not full? That was four bowls worth of rice. Are you

really that hungry?"

There was no reply. Aisaka turned her back towards Ryuji andput on one shoe.

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"... The fusuma..."

She said quietly and turned around without warning again.

"Man, you sure talk a lot."

"There's a hole in the fusuma... is fixing that going to cost a lot?"

She said while looking up at Ryuji, her large eyes blinking two to

three times. Feeling his heartbeat going wild, Ryuji avoided

Aisaka's eyes. Not because he was afraid, but because he was

puzzled. This was the first time he has ever seen Aisaka not lookingangry.

"Ahh... um... if it's fixing that, I can handle it myself... I think. I

just had a look, the hole isn't that big, so it will be perfect if I have

some good quality washi. Though you can only find normal qualitywashi paper in these parts."

"Hmm..."

He couldn't tell what she was up to with that expressionless face.

"Washi... If possible, you can use this!"

Aisaka handed something out. She wants me to use this? ... Ryuji

looked confused at the thing that she stuffed into his hand. How

should I put this? Asking me to fill the hole in the fusuma using her

letterless love letter envelope...

"If you find that useful, then use it! If you need money to fix it, Iwill pay for it."

"Ah... er... um!"


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Chapter 3

Maybe it would be better if I had owned a cat or a dog, or

something that can communicate telepathically with humans. Ryujithought while replacing Inko-chan's food tray.

"...I...iii...I...In...In...In..."

Inko-chan looked straight into Ryuji's eyes, trying hard to think

what it was that he wanted to say. Could it be the thing that Ryuji

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has been teaching him for years yet he still ended up struggling tosay?

"Could it be... you're finally going to say "Inko-chan"? Have youfinally got it!?"

Ryuji looked excitedly into the birdcage. Before him, Inko-chancheekily opened the feathers on his tail, and then...

"I...Idiot!"

"Damn it!"

Flap! Without thinking, Ryuji had covered the cage with the

cloth again. He might look intimidating, but he was actually quite

even-tempered. All hell would break lose if he were to get annoyed

at every little thing. With the calm temperament of a gentleman, he

went to have a look at Yasuko, who should already be sleeping. He

opened the fusuma...

She should be sleeping, right? As he had heard the door open,Ryuji knew she had returned.

"... Though she came back, but this is ridiculous..."

He muttered and shut his eyes.

Yasuko was so drunk that the whole house reeked of booze when

she fell asleep. But, why did she have to sleep as though she had

rolled forward and landed upside down? She now slept with her

bottom facing upwards. Good thing she changed into her track suit,

even if she was his mother... No, it was because she was his mother

that he had to be strict to her. For her son's standards, recklessly


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"Tch!"

The phone gave a very annoyed and irritated twitching sound of

the tongue.

"You were the one that said you'll do anything! I don't care, just

hurry up and come! You know I mean what I say when I say I'm

going to do that... as to what 'that' means, you should knowalready."

Seems like she's really in a bad mood, Aisaka's voice sounded

just like the wailing demons from hell, vibrating the phone receiverin an ominous way and causing Ryuji's ears to shake. There was nopoint arguing further with her on the phone if it had come to this.

"... A, anyway, no matter what... I will come over... but... I don'teven know where you live."

"Just look outside of your window."

"Huh? Outside my window? There's nothing outside besides...WHOA!?"

Carrying the phone receiver past the ridiculously narrow living

room and looking out through the dim window, Ryuji could see the

Bourgeois-style apartment block. Yet on the second floor of that

building... looking straight from the window opposite...

"What's with those silly-looking pajamas?"

Aisaka Taiga was standing there carrying a trendy phone in herhand while looking disgruntled.

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"Ah! S, stop looking at me!"

Wearing Yasuko's 'cuddly woolen shirt' (with heart shapes all

over) as he was feeling cold, Ryuji quickly covered his shirt with hishands while looking fierce. He wasn't feeling angry, butembarrassed.

Aisaka also indignantly pulled her expensive curtains up.

"Like hell I want to look at you! Hurry up and get your ass over,you stupid dog!"

Aisaka left with this sentence, but Ryuji remembered he still hadthings to do,

"Wait! Just give me ten more minutes!"

"... Why?"

"Because the creole rice bento is not yet cooked."

"..."

From the silence on the other end, Ryuji could faintly hear a

thunderous growling of the stomach. It was just too loud to beignored,

"...W, would you like to have some?"

After a long silence, the curtains on the window of that

Bourgeois-style apartment opened for about 10 cm. Aisakaremained silent while nodding at Ryuji.

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Yasuko, Inko-chan, and now Aisaka.

Looks like there were now three instead of two waiting to be fed

by Ryuji.

* * *This was the first time he had ever seen an automatic gate.

The atmosphere in the marble-laden entrance felt colder than the

air outside. The surrounding was eerily quiet, as though keeping a

watch on Ryuji. Facing such an unfitting ambiance, Ryuji's eyes

couldn't help looking more fierce as a result of staring at the device

that was before him. At his waist level was a marble panel with a

button, a keyhole and something like an intercom. At the other end

was the automatic gate that led to the interior of the apartment

block. Yet the gate did not open automatically. On his right was thesecurity booth, but there was a sign outside that read "Cleaning in

Progress", so it seemed like there was no one inside. Just how do

you use this device? How am I supposed to get into the Palmtop

Tiger's cage? Ryuji remained speechless while at a loss at what to

do when...

"Good... morning...?"

A young woman emerged from the gate and greeted Ryuji, but

quickly glanced suspiciously at him, wondering Who on earth is thisperson?

"M, morning."

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Lowering his head embarrassingly, Ryuji slotted himself through

the gate before it was shut. Would it be okay for me to enter like

that? He wondered, though he believed it wouldn't get him into too

much trouble.

He entered the elevator and pushed the button for the second

floor. As the doors reopened, he found himself looking at a carpet-

laden corridor that he had seen before in the hotel in one of hisprevious field trips.

This got Ryuji wondering just how much was the rent here.

...Shoot, I forgot to ask what her room number is. Though thatproblem was quickly solved...

Because there was only one door at the end of the corridor... In

other words, the entire second floor of this Bourgeois-styleapartment block was the Aisaka residence.

"She sure is rich... Could the rumor that her father is a gangster

actually be true?"

In deep thought, Ryuji walked nervously towards the door (since

even though it was Aisaka, he was still visiting a girl's place), and

pushed the doorbell. However, there was no response, even afterpushing several times.

There's still some time till school begins, but my time is notunlimited! He timidly attempted to push the door open.

He held his breath and then... the door opened.

"... M, morning! ... Aisaka! ... It's me, Takasu... Hello?"


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R ji b lt d t f th kit h I' h! H d h

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At th t f th b d d d b th l t i l id


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Ryuji bolted out of the kitchen.I've seen enough! How dare shelet me see such a thing!

"No matter what, let me... let me clean your kitchen!!!"

Something has gone off within Ryuji's heart.

His nerves showing, he ran around the living room like a bullet,

but still could not find Aisaka. His eyes, glittering in excitement,noticed a sliding door.

"Is it this one!?"

He then pulled it open with great force...

"...Ah."

... Bingo. But somehow, it felt as though... he guessed wrongly.

Aisaka Taiga was there.

Facing such silence, Ryuji couldn't help but cover his mouth, heeven stopped breathing.

The curtains hung from the north-facing window, in the silent

room with a high ceiling, lying everywhere on the pure white carpet

were fluffy one-piece dresses that were thrown randomly after beingtaken off. At the corner was a matching pure white studying table

and chair, while in the middle of the room was a princess-sized bedwith white lacy curtains hanging from above.

This was Aisaka's room.

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At the center of the bed surrounded by the lacy curtains laid

Aisaka Taiga, her long hair spread all over the bedspread, while shecuddled her arms and legs as she slept silently.

The portable phone receiver was placed next to the pillow,

outside the curtains one could just see the Takasu residence fromhere.

"... So she went back to sleep..."

Zzzzz... Only the silent and rhythmic breathing could be heard.

Unable to approach her, Ryuji maintained this distance while

looking at the sleeping Aisaka... It wasn't like he really wanted tolook, it was just that she could not get out of his field of vision.

Wrapped in her loose pajamas, her tiny arms and legs now

looked even tinier. It was only at this moment that her calm face

looked as clear as an ice sculpture, like as it was about to melt. Her

small nose, slightly open little mouth, and her eyelashes extending

downwards... if it weren't for her breathing, one couldn't tell

whether she was alive or not... And there Aisaka slept quietly on her

bed.

It wasn't because he had seen his classmate sleeping, but this

scenery just felt like it came straight out of a fairy tale.

Ryuji felt she looked just like Sleeping Beauty, just like any

other girl. But he quickly rejected such thinking.

... She's no princess.

Nope... she's just a doll that had been forgotten by a princess. Her

Toradora!

eyes will open once you pick her up but since she was forgotten

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eyes will open once you pick her up, but since she was forgotten,she can only lie here and keep on sleeping.

The doll slept in this bed, this room, this apartment, yet theybelonged to the princess and not the doll. This explained whyeverything seemed so big in comparison to the doll's size.

Yet Aisaka is a human, and this was Aisaka's home... Speaking of

which, where is her family?

After looking around the room, Ryuji quietly squinted his eyes.

One chair, one sofa... There's no one here besides Aisaka, and heresleeps Aisaka, who merely shakes her head when being asked about

her family.

Looking at his watch, there was still time before school wouldbegin.

Feeling that it would be quite hard to wake her, Ryuji silently left

the room and closed the door without making any sound.I'll call herif she's still not up just before it's time to leave.

After returning from the dimension of the silent bedroom, Ryuji

slowly took off his gakuran jacket and rolled up his sleeves.

"... Let's do this!"

Before his glaring eyes was the extremely slippery utility

kitchen, the time limit was 15 minutes. The battle between the man

and the dirty stainless steel had begun.

When Aisaka Taiga wakes up, she probably won't believe her

eyes.

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"Team up with him... But who in the class would go and pair up

with the opposite gender? I always team up with Minorin and


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Chapter 4

The plan was simple...

There was to be a basketball match for that day's PE lesson. The

boys and girls would be split into two and play amongst their own

gender, but they would warm up together before that... With two

people being paired for the warm-up, which would take about 10minutes and would involve stretching and passing balls.

The students were free to choose their warm-up partner however

they wished, the PE teacher wouldn't mind as long as they were all

paired up.

"... Which is why, this is a good opportunity for two people who

rarely speak to have a conversation. I think it's great! So you goteam up with Kitamura! End of report."

Ryuji explained his strategy while heading towards the

gymnasium, dressed in PE uniform. Walking beside him was

Aisaka, who was toying with her ponytail that she tied behind whilemoping,

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with the opposite gender? I always team up with Minorin, and

Kitamura-kun is always with you. Now you suddenly ask me toteam up with him... I just can't do it!"

She got quieter as she finished off her sentence. Tut, tut, tut!Ryuji waved his finger while proudly explaining his strategy,

"That's the whole point. Now listen up! The aim is to naturally

and casually team up with him, all we need is some preparation.

First, I'll team up with Aisaka..."

Aisaka looked suspiciously at Ryuji's face,

"... And then?"

"In that case, Kitamura would have no choice but to team up

with someone else. Along the way, the guy who got paired with

Kitamura will be 'accidentally' hit by a ball thrown by me. Though it

wouldn't get him hurt, but it's enough to cause a commotion, sinceI'll have to send that guy to the school clinic. In that case, guesswho'll be left behind?"

"... Me, and Kitamura-kun?"

"Right? This way you can go and say 'Looks like we have nochoice but to team up with each other'..."

"You really are a terrible actor. Are you taking me for a fool?...And are things really gonna run that smoothly?"

"I'll do my best to make it run smoothly!"

Both changed into their sneakers while sitting shoulder to

Toradora!

shoulder, and then gathered with other classmates before the PE

teacher

Volume 1

"Hmm... so today is such a day, huh? Alright, I'll team up with a

girl today! Who wants to be with me!?"


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teacher.

"Today... we will practice on passing the ball through a match."The teacher explained.

"Now then, let's begin with warm ups! Everyone pair up!"

"Hey, Aisaka!"

"I'm here! Let's team up, Takasu-kun!"

"Okay! Let's go!"

"... Right, dismissed! We seem to have some fired up spiritstoday!"

Ryuji and Aisaka quickly walked off from the gathering at the

corner of the gymnasium after quickly teaming up with each other.

"Incredible... That Takasu really doesn't value his life anymore...""It's as though he's now the Palmtop Tiger's pet..." Though everyone

began to mutter amongst themselves fearfully, it didn't reach theears of those two. Facing each other, they said discreetly,

"We've now passed the first stage without any problems."

"Yeah."

Both nodded and exchanged glances.

However, Ryuji and Aisaka's sudden movement led the class to

an intriguing direction. Besides the really shy ones, the otherclassmates also began to move...

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girl today! Who wants to be with me!?

Starting with this flirtatious voice.

"Me too! I wanna team up with a guy!"

"You're right, I guess it's fine this way as well."

"Who knows? This could be fun!"

The mood became excited, besides those who stick with theiroaths to team up with their friends, the others with less integrity

began to team up with the opposite gender.

In the end...

"Maru~o-kun! Oops, I mean Kitamura-kun! Team up with me!"

"Huh? Ahh, sure, since I got dumped by Takasu..."

AH! Ryuji could hear a yell as he got smacked on the back byAisaka.

"W, wait, what's going on!? Kitamura-kun is now teamed upwith that weird girl!"

The one being called weird was one of the most popular girls inthe class, Kihara Maya - Quite an elastic body for a 17 year old -

She had extensions applied to her long eyelashes, while on her lips

was covered a layer of thin semi-translucent pink lipstick. Under a

light make-up which only just made it past the school rules, shelooked kind of cute... That's what Ryuji thought anyway.


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"Idi... Sto... Whoa...!"

Volume 1

Her large eyes reflected the light like a sharp blade and shot

straight at Ryuji.


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With its weight and momentum, this tiger was attempting to

break Ryuji's back as it pushed hardly on him. His waist was going

to give in.

"Damn it... that hurts...!"

"I was quite in pain as well a while ago, so we're even!"

This did nothing but waste both of their energies. And finally, it

was time to practice passing the ball. After being hit by a flying kickby Aisaka, Ryuji's legs felt like they were about to crack.It will be amiracle if I can continue the whole PE lesson like this!

"Let's hurry up with our plan already, alright?"

Aisaka said and stood about 5 meters from him. The other

classmates also began passing their balls, the sound of the balls

bouncing echoed around the gymnasium.

Their plan was to have Ryuji gently shove the ball towards

Kitamura's partner mid-way through the passing exercise - That was

the original plan of course, however, there was now a problem...

Diagonally behind Aisaka, that is, diagonally in front of Ryuji,

the person who was teamed up with Kitamura was Kihara-san - a

girl.

No matter how light he might throw, Ryuji still felt rather

hesitant of deliberately injuring a girl.Anyway, let me pass the ballto Aisaka first!

"... What the, how come you're passing the ball instead...?"

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g y j

"... I'm waiting for a good chance. C'mon, pass me the ball!"

"..."

With a scowl, Aisaka tossed the ball back to Ryuji hard. As

Ryuji received the ball, Aisaka quickly gestured with her chin.

Do it!

"... Okay, okay..."

After bouncing it for a while, he tossed the ball out again.

Having received the ball, Aisaka's mouth turned into an inverted V-

shape,

"Hey! What the hell? Hurry up already!"

Aisaka handled the ball stably like a skilled basketball player.

After a few bounces...

"Here!"

"Whoa!"

The basketball shot towards his face like a bullet.

"W, why you..."

Ryuji managed to quickly catch the ball after half of his face got

scratched by it. By the way, Ryuji wasn't feeling mad, okay, maybehe was feeling a bit mad, but he was feeling scared a bit more.

Toradora!

"Hey Ryuji! C'mon! Pass it to me!"

Volume 1

Kihara waved her arm, and then realizing her shoelace was loose,

quickly bent down to tie it.


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On the other hand, Aisaka paced left and right annoyingly as

though nothing had just happened, her sneakers squeaking on the

floor as she moved. Of course she wasn't intending to really catchthe ball, as she simply waved her arms about. Might as well try a

manly pass! Just as Ryuji was about to accumulate his strength for

the throw...

"Ah..."

Aisaka suddenly looked somewhere else, forcing Ryuji toquickly come to a halt.

"Where the hell are you looking at?!"

In front of Aisaka's vision after she turned around... "Sheesh~

Kitamura-kun, just where do you think you're tossing the ball?" "My

bad!" Kihara Maya began to chase after the ball that rolled off,

which landed straight at Aisaka's feet.

"..."

A scowl.

Speaking of which, even Aisaka wasn't sure what expression to

make besides that.

"Wah! Aisaka-san! I'm sorry, are you mad!? I'm really sorry, we

didn't mean it!"

Could it be because she's also a girl that it's easier to

communicate with her? Kihara's smile revealed none of the terrified

expression the guys would make. "Can you pass it over, please!"

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In place of her calling Aisaka was...

"Hey... Aisaka! Sorry about that, can you pass it to me please?"

It was none other than the Mr. Nice Guy with flashy glasses -

Kitamura Yuusaku. As expected from Kitamura, though he treats

every girl the same way, guess that's what people call being'innocent'.

Creak! Aisaka suddenly stopped functioning as though her

engine had run out of gas. Ryuji couldn't see her expression from his

position, though he could tell very clearly that her body was now as

rigid as a springboard.

"Cre~ak..." Aisaka began to move in a seemingly damaging way

with all that creaking noise. She walked a few steps - right arm and

right leg together, followed by left arm and left leg together -towards the ball. Without even saying "Look out!" or "Here I go!",

she silently tossed the ball over. Sorry, she hurled the ball over, andin a very pathetically rigid way as well.

After bouncing a few times, the ball then rolled straight and...

"Thanks!"

Went straight into Kitamura's hand, who made a very cheesy V-

sign on his forehead. By the way, he had his T-shirt completely

tucked into his trousers, while the loose parts of his trousers were

tightly wrapped around his legs.

"Ai, Aisaka...?"


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Toradora!

After thinking for a while, Ryuji finally spoke,

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"... What's that supposed to mean?"

"Huh?! Seriously, a dog has no right to complain..."

"... I'm not complaining... it's the way you're happy for... Sorry

for being blunt, but aren't you being happy for the wrong reasons?

When you said practice passing the ball... didn't you just simply

pass the ball to him only once? Besides, was your goal just to

practice passing the ball with him? Aren't you supposed to use that

opportunity to start a conversation with him and get to know eachother better?"

Ah...

Aisaka's grin on her face was quickly replaced by her usual grimexpression. "Right?" Ryuji continued,

"Furthermore, just what was that about? Did you even speak tohim? Didn't you keep quiet the whole time? All you did was stiffly

throw the ball out and he simply said thanks, and you call that aconversation?"

He picked up the ball while mimicking the cheesy V-signKitamura made a while ago. As a result...

"Hmph!"

Aisaka turned quickly and slammed her hand on the ball he washolding.

As a result of the great force applied, the ball bounced very highup, nearly touching the ceiling.

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peeved.Looks like she's about to explode!

"Hey pass it over! Paaaaa sssss!!!"

Volume 1

fell down just like that, all that was left was the ball dribbling away.

Ryuji was too stunned to do anything as it all happened so quickly,

it wasn't until a few seconds later that he was able to return to his


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Hey, pass it over! Paaaaa------sssss!!!

Aisaka said deeply while waving her arms around like Spider-Woman. Her eyes read "If you actually throw this towards me,you're dead meat!"

But there's only enough time to pass one more time... Ryuji made

a rough estimate in his head, Guess I will just make another regularpass! Is Aisaka's nose itchy again? Her face looks really twisted...

"... Ugh... aaah..."

"Okay! I'm gonna pass, Aisaka!"

This time Ryuji used a lot of force in his throw.

However, Aisaka unexpectedly leaned backwards,

And at the same moment...

"AH-CHOO!"

"AHHH!!!!!"

Oh shit!

The sounds that echoed around the gymnasium were Aisaka's

sneezing and Ryuji crying in terror... I didn't do this on purpose! I

swear! It wasn't deliberate!

Yet, the unfortunate has happened... The ball shot straight at

Aisaka's sneezing face, it was a direct bulls-eye. Aisaka then stiffly

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it wasn t until a few seconds later that he was able to return to his

senses,

"I, I'm sorry! You okay... whoa!?"

As Ryuji rushed to help pick Aisaka up, he ended up being

startled. This is bad. S, she has fainted, and her nose is bleeding...

For some reason, the images of Inko-chan and Yasuko this morning

flashed before him. They were both lying on the ground in awkward

poses, and now Aisaka was the same as well. Could the scenes this

morning be the omens for what would happen now... And why am Ithinking of all these meaningless things now of all times!?

"What's wrong, Takasu? Who is hurt? Is it Aisaka?"

The teacher and class rep Kitamura rushed along. Now is the

chance to let Kitamura take care of Aisaka! Ryuji suddenly thought

of such an idea, he turned to look at Aisaka at his chest...

"... NO!"

There is something wrong with this face. I can't let Kitamura see

this face! Instantaneously, his sense of guilt drove him to pick upAisaka,

"T, this is bad! I will take her to the school clinic right away!"

As the crowd murmured, Ryuji hid Aisaka's face against his

chest and bolted off towards the clinic. The excited guys behind

started yelling "The Palmtop Tiger actually got taken out by that

amateur Takasu!" "Now this is some interesting development!"

Besides the general direction of the plan, everything was not


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Toradora!

listened intently, and he heard what seemed like mantras being

chanted, "Why? It was such a good chance! I was too unlucky!

Why!? I don't understand, at this rate..." And whole bunch of curses

Volume 1

stuffed a potato into her mouth with her chopsticks.

The potatoes were cut just right for Aisaka's mouth. As she had


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being uttered in quick succession. She must have been really

nervous, and was still hoping for something good to happen... Ryujiwas at a loss as to what to say to her.

But he couldn't just leave her like that.

"... W, we will invite him for lunch tomorrow again, okay? ...Anyway, let's eat first, alright?"

Ryuji tried his best to cheer Aisaka up, but,

"... Tomorrow?"

Waving her hair, Aisaka raised her murderous glance and said,

"Does this mean you're going to smack my face with the ball

again?"

"I never said that!"

Ryuji denied matter-of-factly. Ugh! Ryuji then backed off, for he

saw Aisaka's glance was now filling with tears.No! Don't cry! Ryujibegan to panic, yet Aisaka said,

"Didn't you use making up to me as an excuse in order to inviteMinorin and Kitamura-kun? You can't casually invite them without

such a reason, can you? Or do you have any other plan? I definitelydon't want something that direct! Absolutely not! Absolutely...!"

"O, okay, okay! Here! Let's eat!"

Aisaka's lashes began to get wet as she talked, so Ryuji quickly

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no reason to spit it out, she began munching the potato in her mouth.

Seeing how hard she was chewing, Ryuji asked uncomfortably, "Isit too big?" A while later, Aisaka finally swallowed down the

potato, followed by,

"... Sniff!"

"Are you sneezing? Don't worry, I've got plenty of tissues!"

"No, you idiot! I was just thinking how I was about to die backthen!"

Aisaka gulped the carton of milk on the table. Gulp, gulp, gulp...

Once she had put down the box, her tears had already dried.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Ryuji began to eat his own bento.

Good thing Kitamura had to leave, or he would have really run

away and leave Aisaka alone behind. Then god knows what she

would have done. Thinking of it, Ryuji felt like it was a blessing indisguise.

"Ah! ... Ryuji..."

Aisaka, who was originally in a bad mood and remained silent,

now lifted her head and stared at Ryuji.

"What now?"

"... There is no meat..."

"Can it be helped? My house isn't the sort of place where you can

readily find meat in the refrigerator. If you want meat, go and live


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Toradora!

expressed it didn't feel right. Sinking into sadness, Aisaka buried herhead into her knees and went quiet.

"Ai, Aisaka..."

Volume 1

cookies wrapped in a very manly aluminum foil on her lap, and thenhe took her cookie wrapper in exchange.

Ryuji gently opened the already battered wrapper, there were


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No response.

Squatting down in an awkward pose, she wrapped herself tightly

and remained still, like a snail burrowing into its shell, only her tiny

fingers could be seen trembling. Her soft hair hanging from hershoulders moved slightly with the rhythm of her breathing.

Though now wasn't the time, yet Ryuji still felt that...

Women are just so devious.

No matter how arrogant they may be, how much trouble they

may bring to others, as long as they make that expression, theywould quickly melt the heart of every man.

This expression was impossible to ignore.

Very impossible to disregard.

So Ryuji scratched his head, and intensified his gaze. He first

went to his desk, then returned next to Aisaka, and sat down next toher.

"... Aisaka, let's swap!"

"...?"

Ryuji tapped her shoulder to get her to look up, while pretending

he didn't see the tears at the corner of her eyes. He placed his baked

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only a few pieces of crumbs inside, though there was still quite anamount.

"Eh... wait... Ryuji, those were just picked up from the ground, a,

and they're..."

"Since I only ate your roasted cookies before, I'm really curious

what these taste like!"

After replying stiffly, he ignored Aisaka's glance and stuffed the

crumbs into his mouth. Afterwards...

"..."

Silence.

When eating her roasted cookies a while ago, the recent heat

from the oven, the bitter charcoal taste, as well as being coerced into

swallowing them all in one go by Aisaka, meant that Ryuji quickly

spat them all out... So this was really the first time Ryuji had tried

Aisaka's cooking... It's just that, she probably... Mixed up the sugarand salt...

"A, are the cookies... delicious?"

"... Ahhh! They are tasty!"

Aisaka widened her eyes worryingly.

"Yeah, they taste great! Ah... too bad you can't give these toKitamura. Better luck next time, yeah?"

Toradora!

Ryuji managed to worm his way out with his genetically

inherited poker face, and then urged Aisaka to try his cookies.Aisaka carefully opened the wrapper, then looked amazed at Ryuji,

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"Uwah... Amazing! They look perfect. Can I really eat them?"

"I wanted to take them back for my mom, but I guess it doesn'tmatter, they're all yours."

The cookies were baked very thinly, this special edition was

sprinkled with sugar on top with extra butter. Aisaka stared at the

cookies for a while...

"... They're tasty! Really!"

Her eyes widened as she put them in her mouth.

"... This is the first time I've heard you say the word 'tasty'."

"This is incredible, it's so much better than those sold in thebakery!"

"According to my experience, for bakery products, it always

tastes better if you make them yourself than buying them. Of course

this has to do with my personal preference, but for those who like

their cookies suitably soft after coming out of the oven, I'd preferbaking it myself."

"I see... um... I... like this, I really do!"

Aisaka looked just like any other normal girl as she concentrated

on eating the cookies. "Delicious!" She said with her cheeks stuffed

with cookies, she licked the sugar around her lips and added quietly,"It would be great served with red tea!"

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Toradora!

... Who would've recognized this?

Besides me, who else would have recognized this side of Aisaka

Taiga?

Volume 1

complexion was fair, her large and near transparent eyes glittered

with stars every time she blinked, those were really beautiful eyes.

Even though she was small, her face was hardly child-like... Ryuji

suddenly realized this, and something resembling a cold shiver went


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An incredible feeling. Until yesterday, like other classmates, he

too had feared the 'Palmtop Tiger'. He not only feared being bitten,

he also feared having anything to do with her world. So Aisaka

Taiga is this kind of person... Back then, he was hardly eveninterested in such things.

This girl... the daughter of some infamous gangster boss or karate

master, a cruel girl who treats people like dogs, gets so nervousupon seeing her crush that she forgot how to speak, an unbelievably

clumsy girl, and then gets depressed to the verge of tears due to

being ashamed of her clumsiness... She's always hungry, and loves

tasty food and snacks.

She's an extremely peculiar girl... always causing trouble forpeople, and giving people a headache.

But Ryuji suddenly realized he didn't dislike her peculiarity. He

even thoughtI'm glad I met this kind of person. At this moment, he

felt blissful for some reason.

Yes. Even though she's annoying, even though I'm troubled by

her, but when she gets hurt, I just want to comfort her... If I'm

thinking like this, then Aisaka to me is...

"... Hey, Ryuji! I think I know now!"

... He got startled.

Returning to his senses, he saw Aisaka Taiga looking at him

from a very close distance. Though her face was small, her

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up his spine.

Ahem! Ryuji cleared his throat,

"...K, know what?"

He asked hesitatingly, and then...

"It's all because you didn't help me out properly! You're such adumb dog! A hopelessly dumb dog!"

"..."

What the hell!? Aisaka shrugged her shoulders and looked

contemptuously at Ryuji. How should I say this... Looks like she'sback to herself... But still, what the hell!?

Ryuji was really getting pissed, thinking,How can there be such

a person!? Yet, he saw Aisaka gave a gentle smile... Forget it. I willlet her off this time!

Think of it as a special offer from me!

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"What do you want for dinner? You don't have any problem with

me eating with you, right? I'll make my mom's share and take it

home with me, okay? You will be paying for the ingredients, right?

Oh, I remember your refrigerator is empty. In that case, we can't do

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anything without going to the supermarket first... Oh yeah, we gottabuy some mold removal liquid and dish washing detergents!"

Can't be helped, I guess... Ryuji thought.

"So be it!" Aisaka said. This was because she had no way of

refusing. After yesterday and today, he knew this girl was stubborn,

unreasonable, self-lamenting yet also obnoxious. Threatening her

was useless, when she decided to do something, she would do it.Not to mention there were so many things that he was worried abouther.

Which is why... I can't just leave her alone like that. Can't be

helped.

Besides, there were still plenty of dirt marks in Aisaka's

European kitchen that bothered him.

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Chapter 5

"Hey, move your head over! You're blocking the TV!"

The head that was blocking half of the TV screen from Ryuji'svision replied without turning,

"Ah, shut up already! Can't you just shift over a bit?"

Speaking nonchalantly, Aisaka gave a very irksome reply.


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like (Minori...) So I never even thought of wanting to do anything to

her... Seriously! ... Honest!

But she's too thick-skinned. Since she's not going to wake up,

Volume 1

still scary even when she's sleeping...

Aisaka was indeed the Palmtop Tiger. The savage genes

saturated her blood, she was the sort of aggressive high school girl


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which is why I have to give her a scare... Just to say something tostartle her, that's all.

But she still remained motionless. He now noticed a small tatami

thread on her snow white cheek... That might cause a scratch So

thought Ryuji. Nothing malicious... I'm just concerned... I will just

remove this for her... Ryuji gulped, and then slowly reached out hishand...

"UMPH!"

He then flew to the other end of the room.

"... Hmm? What... are you doing?"

"... N, nothing..."

If it was a coincidence, then it came too coincidentally. As

Aisaka turned her body around, she moved her arm as well. Herpowerful fist then unintentionally gave Ryuji's chin an uppercut.

Aisaka woke up and scratched her head, she then frowned as shelooked suspiciously at Ryuji, who had landed upside down,

"... Strange... just what are you so noisy for? It's the middle of the

night. Last thing we want is the landlord to scold us again!"

"L, leave me alone!"

If Aisaka were awake then, Ryuji would be dead by now. She's

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that would bite at any opponent that comes at her.

Though he was now quite familiar with her, Takasu Ryuji felt hestill needed times like this to confirm that fact.

* * *

Testimony 1

"This is Haruta Koji from Class 2-C reporting: I really saw it, it

happened when I was grabbing a bite on my way home just after

club activities had ended, in the supermarket near the station...

Those two were definitely Takasu and the Palmtop Tiger! Takasu

was carrying a shopping basket and having a look at which fish to

buy when the Palmtop Tiger stuffed a piece of meat into the basket.

Takasu quickly yelled at her, 'I thought we're having steamed fish

tonight!' And placed the meat back on the shelf. They then bought

some onions and radishes. As they came to the counter, Takasu said

'take 1000 yen from our common wallet', which was followed by the

Palmtop Tiger obediently taking a wallet out. He said 'common

wallet'! How should I say this? It just feels like they're a married

couple."


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Taiga quietly sipped her box of milk with a bored expression and anaura that seemed to say "Leave me alone".

Yet a very courageous fellow came and pat Aisaka on her back,

Volume 1

me 'you'... His eyes squinted a bit at that thought, though no one elsecould really tell he was frowning.

The school roof was filled with a tense atmosphere... though it

couldn't be seen but that's what was being felt anyway


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"Hey, Taiga... Are you free now?"

It was none other than Kushieda Minori. So she's finally going to

do it, huh? ... The whole class was now gazing at the back of thePalmtop Tiger.

"Why such a serious face... Hey! Minorin?!"

Unlike her serious expressions in the past, Minori dragged Taiga

by her collar and pulled her up from her seat. The tiny Aisakaexclaimed,

"I, I can move on my own without you pulling me! I'm gonnafall!"

"Just come over!"

It seems Minori was the only person in this world capable of

doing such a thing to the Palmtop Tiger. If it was anyone else, they

would be bitten in less than three seconds. As everyone held their

breath, Minori dragged Aisaka on the ground as though she were apiece of luggage and said to the person before her,

"... You. Come along as well!"

"... Huh? ... M, me!?"

The person she pointed at was none other than Takasu Ryuji.

Though he felt a bit ecstatic at being called...But she simply called

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couldn t be seen, but that s what was being felt anyway.

It was a fairly fine day. The clouds slowly floated aboveidyllically.

"M, Minorin...?"

"Kushieda?"

After dragging Ryuji and Aisaka here, Kushieda Minori had her

back towards them... Whoosh... In this unusual situation, the

tracksuit jacket that she wore on top of her uniform for some reasonfluttered against the wind.

Ryuji suddenly suppressed his voice and whispered to Aisaka,who was standing 30 cm below him,

"Hey... what's going on here?"

"How would I know? ... This is also my first time seeing Minorinlook like that... Could she be angry at something?"

Aisaka looked a bit melancholic and tilted her headuncomfortably, but she still decided to step forward...

"U, umm... M, Minorin...?"

As she stretched her hand, her voice stopped. The whole world

seemed to stop as well. Turning around, Minori's eyes seemed toglitter for a while and she suddenly jumped before Aisaka.

Toradora!

"Wah?!" Aisaka yelled and shielded herself with her arms.What's going on? Minori quietly glided past Aisaka and then...

"TAKASU------KUUUUUNNN----!!!"

"WHOA?!"

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"WHOA?!"

Minori slid to just a few meters before Ryuji and elegantly knelt

down before him.

Amongst the flying dust and fluttering tracksuit jacket...

"I now entrust my Taiga to you! PLEEEAAASEEE----! Takegood care of her!!!"

She yelled with a voice that pierced the skies.

"... Huh?! Wha...? EHHHHH?!"

Minori bowed down with her hands on the ground, touching her

fingers with her forehead. Ryuji was completely awestruck by allthis, so was Aisaka, who struggled to keep her jaw shut.

"Takasu-kun, this girl... Taiga, she is a very important friend of

mine. Sometimes she may have a really bad temper, but she is avery kind and gentle girl! ... Please! L, let her be happy!!!"

Sob ... All Aisaka could see was Minori sobbing. A second haspassed... ten seconds... thirty seconds....

The first to come to his senses was Ryuji,

"Kushieda, h, hang on a minute... W, what are you talkingabout...?"

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her body blood red.

"So that's how it is... Hmm, and I was wondering whether you

guys were going out together! Takasu, I was just about to see you so

I came over... But I guess it doesn't matter anymore.C t l ti b th f ! Th h I till 't b li

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"..."

"... E, excuse me, but if you aren't ordering anything..."

"... Some juice will do..."


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g yCongratulations, both of you! Though I still can't believe you nevertold me this before."

This was because Kitamura was here as well...

He saw everything from the entrance to the staircase. And afterhearing Minori's confession, he misunderstood as well as a result.

He approached the tiny corpse lying on the ground, and gave hera final blow,

"Aisaka, I leave Takasu in your care. Make sure you cherish eachother. Come to think of it, you two sure are a great match!"

And so the two stunned bodies remained on the ground like that,

unable to get up anymore...

* * *"Umm, may I please, take your order..."

"..."

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j

"... Make that two. Same as hers..."

"... Drinks, is it? Well, the cups are over there, so please help

yourself."

After finishing his designated lines, the waiter turned and left.

Yet no one at the table got up to get any drinks.

It was around 10 in the evening, in a family restaurant beside the

main road. Sitting at a non-smoking table by the window were two

corpses...

Though it was still April, the large one was wearing a loose T-

shirt, the hair clip that he used while washing his face remained on

his head; the small one wore a red checkered blouse and greencheckered skirt, on her head was a messy mop of long hair.

Both looked absolutely miserable and wrecked. Unable to say a

word, they didn't even blink, simply allowing time to pass byslowly.

"How... did it... turn out... like this..."

The first to speak was the larger corpse Ryuji. Placing his elbowson the table, he clutched his head and said softly,

"D... Did something go wrong? How did Kushieda Minori getthe wrong idea..."

Toradora!

Ryuji finally saw a side of Minori he didn't know: very

individualistic and unable to listen to other people. In other words,

she was super egocentric. However, since she was Aisaka's best

friend, it made sense that she had something in common with

Aisaka.

Volume 1

He should have already been used to feeling hurt.

Whether he was being misunderstood or gave the wrongimpression, he should have been used to all this since kindergarten.

" Ahh that's it "


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"For Kushieda of all people... to misunderstand..."

And to have his crush for one year suddenly kneeling before

him... Equally important, however, was that Aisaka also suffered thesame blow as he did.

"..."

Aisaka moved her blank gaze, looking upwards despondently

while sitting very near the edge of the sofa. She will slide down if

she sits like that. Is this the Palmtop Tiger? Is this the Tiger of Class

2-C that can kick a guy miles away with just her gaze? The Tiger

that roars with such ferociousness? Ryuji began to feel genuinelysorry...

"A, Aisaka... pull yourself together..."

Ryuji stretched his arm across the table and shook Aisaka's tinyshoulder, but...

"..."

Aisaka's soul still had not returned.

"Aisaka..."

Using up all his energy, Ryuji fell exhaustedly onto the table.Really... why did this happen?!

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... Ahh, that s it...

Ryuji then realized why he was so shocked. It wasn't because he

was misunderstood, it was because even after being misunderstood,

what he received were cheerful smiles and serious words of

encouragement instead... as a result, he was unable to properlyexplain and that was really why he was so frustrated.

I'm such an idiot! Ryuji gave this judgment to himself.It was to

be expected... Even though she never really did fancy me, and never

did I really do anything to win her heart. Just what was I

expecting?! Perhaps I don't even have a right to feel dejected?

After remaining in such a pose for a few minutes, he raised hishead, noticing something...

"Ah..."

The sound of two glasses being placed on the table.

"... This is yours. I don't know what you wanted, so, anyway...it's Peach West Indies, it's got plenty of vitamin C..."

Aisaka had got up silently from her seat, and had brought back

two large glasses of red drink. After lining up the glasses on the

table, she slid back into her seat.

"... Aisaka..."

Toradora!

When did she start breathing again? Aisaka breathed a deep sigh

before Ryuji. Sitting upright, she lifted her head and said,

"I'm sorry, it's because we're always sticking with each other...

It's all because I always wanted it my way that it has ended up likethis Always wanting Ryuji to get involved For a hopeless master

Volume 1

straightforward... and normal way to confess."

Even though her eyes betrayed her insecurity, she still added,"I've decided."

The one gasping for air was actually Ryuji


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this... Always wanting Ryuji to get involved... For a hopeless masterlike me, I have no right to call you a stupid dog..."

Only her eyes maintained her usual sharpness. Though she said

that, she seemed exhausted, and the glitter in her eyes waslusterless.

A stone fell in the bottom of Ryuji's heart.

Aisaka is the same. It's because we're always together that we

got misunderstood and hurt! Whether it was Aisaka or me, we both

got involved thoroughly. And because of that, always facing each

other, always being together...

However...

"... Well... I don't really mind... us being... together..."

Ryuji wanted to say something, but decided to give up.Aisaka is

also hurting inside! That's why... I can't just talk to her in a

confident mood... This time Aisaka spoke,

"I've... decided."

Playing with the ice in the drink with her straw, she lifted her

head and looked straight at Ryuji with a pair of determined eyes,

"Tomorrow, I'll just go and confess to Kitamura-kun. There'll be

no room for foolish errors. I'm going to use the most

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The one gasping for air was actually Ryuji.

"... Aisaka... why... so sudden... No, right now you've hardlyeven had any progress with him..."

"That's right. There is no progress at all, not to mention..."

He misunderstood us, and I got you dragged in as well... Shesaid that in a very soft voice,

"... Which is why, I want to put an end to this."

"An end? What do you mean..."

"Put an end to us 'being together all the time'."

She concluded.

After finishing, Aisaka's eyes turned clear, though her expression

looked cold as though she just fell into a pool of water. Ryuji was

speechless.

"You're free from today onwards! In this case, you can dowhatever you like... I won't do anything. If you want to confess to

Minorin or whatever, go ahead! ... No matter how my confessiontomorrow ends up, you no longer have to listen to me."

"...!"


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it one of those tragic stories of abandonment? Isn't this all about a

doll that got left alone in a castle after being abandoned by the king

and his family?

But Aisaka was laughing, and it seemed like she was hopingRyuji would laugh along as well. So...

Volume 1

That was an old photo he placed in his wallet.

"Huh? Ah... could this be... your dad?!"

"Bingo! You got it!"


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y j g g

"Heh... ha ha!"

That's why...

"Heh heh heh! Hahaha! Yeah, that's pretty dumb..."

"Told you so!"

Ryuji laughed, though his heart felt like being torn apart, he still

tried his best to laugh happily and gently... Because no one had ever

wished so much for him to laugh before.

It will all end today. Everything will revert to how things were

before from tomorrow onwards - Not even bothering to greet, backto being the Palmtop Tiger no one dares to approach, to having aterrifying classmate known as the Palmtop Tiger.

If that's the case, then he might as well laugh all he could now,

and carefully observe Aisaka's last ever smile in this blandlydecorated family restaurant.

Then, I might as well show her! I'm sure she'll laugh like hell

after seeing that.

"Hahah, oh yeah, let me show you something interesting. Youknow who this is?"

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"Pft! Wahahahahahaha!" A huge laughter that attracted the gazesof everyone around,

"Wha, what is this? You look just like him! Ahahaha! Man, that's

so funny!"

"Look around his eyes... we're a match right? Me and this thug!"

"Enough already! Stop showing me that! Ahahahahahahaha!!!"

Twitching and holding back her tears, Aisaka lay on the table

laughing, banging on it with her hands, kicking wildly with her legs.

She was still laughing even though her voice was getting hoarse.

The perfectly inherited gangster face seems to have triggered

something within Aisaka. If such an inherited feature which he sodespised could make her so happy, then perhaps it was worth havingit after all.

"... I've never shown anyone this photo before."

"Ha, haha, man...! I don't think I've ever laughed this muchbefore... How did you manage to get such genes?!"

"It's fun, right?"

"You bet! Ahh! That's right! As a token of gratitude for showing

me your secret, let me also tell you something interesting as areward... I'll tell you my secret."


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Toradora!

And then there were those happier days, and they lamented how

time flew by.

Yet, no one can stop time moving forward. It would flow slowly,

and finally...

Volume 1

"Yeah, maybe!"

He only began to start thinking about that question after giving

his answer. Come to think of it, I was always worrying about how to

pass each day peacefully with Aisaka that I was too exhausted toeven think about the torment in my heart...


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"... Ahhh, dammit!"

Under an electric pole in the street corner.

The unlucky pole had become the target for Aisaka to vent her

frustration. Whack! Pong! The destructive attack went on and on.

Shes starting to act like a drunk person!

"This is so unfair! ... Why must this world be so cruel to us little

people?! Who could understand just how frustrated we are?!"

That tormented voice echoed throughout the residential area in

the dark. Ryuji didn't stop her, but simply stood by Aisaka andnodded approvingly,

"That's right! Damn right! Since nobody knows that people withscary looks like me and Aisaka can also get depressed anyway!"

"Ahh, this pisses me off... so pissed off! Pissed, pissed, I'm sofriggin' pissed!!!"

She made a series of kicks which a normal person wouldn't beable to pull off, then panted and turned her head suddenly,

"... Hey Ryuji! You feel troubled whenever you think of Minorin,

right? Thinking about how there's no progress between you two, and

what you should do to get together with her, right? You get all

frustrated thinking of that, right?"

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"Then, does Ryuji ever... cry?"

"... Do you?"

"Yeah."

Silence quickly engulfed them.

Aisaka lifted her head and looked at the night sky, moving away

from the pole. She waved her messy hair, revealing her snow white

face, which was clear and delicate.

"I've been thinking all these things today... Whether I'll ever get

close to him, or whether he already has a girlfriend... And, I thinkabout other stuff... just like an idiot, thinking of many, many

things... Probably no one will ever know... No one will everunderstand me... No one..."

Her voice was now as soft as a mosquito, and although Ryuji

couldn't hear properly, he felt as though the cloudy night sky hadbeen silently engulfed by that lonely voice.

"... If everyone knew what kind of person you are, they would

definitely be surprised!"

Ryuji also looked towards the sky, seeking for the moon while

saying,


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power to fight against this enemy, that's why she had to become a

tiger.

Amazing. Though Ryuji and Aisaka were still young, there was

one thing they had in common. This was why Ryuji understoodAisaka so much. Whenever he saw her looking exhausted orstarving to death he just couldn't leave her alone

Volume 1

under the illumination of the moonlight, stretched out her right leg

and aimed it towards the pole.

"...!"

Ryuji couldn't help but close his eyes at seeing such an

t d d did 't th til h h d l d th d


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starving to death, he just couldn't leave her alone.

No matter how annoyed, or how pissed he became, the truth washe just couldn't abandon her.

"Ryuji, move off!"

"What is it, suddenly... Whoa!"

Ryuji was startled by Aisaka suddenly lifting her head, and allthought vanished from his mind at the sight of her face.

There was a smile on her face, a very bitter smile. Glaring

venomously, the Palmtop Tiger stared at her prey with a mood to

kill...

"Take this!"

That sort of mood.

She walked some distance away to the end of the path, and thenlifting up the edge of her skirt...

"Just you wait! Kitamura-kun! I'm going to confess to you rightnooooowwww!!!"

The audience (Ryuji) gasped. After an explosive run, she did a

flying kick with perfect timing: Her tiny body flew elegantly, and

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exaggerated scene, and didn't open them until he heard a loud thud

of something landing on the ground. He then ran towards Aisaka,

who had fallen beside the pole on her bottom.

"Idiot! Your leg..."

"... Ryuji, look!"

"Hmm?"

Aisaka pointed towards the pole sticking towards the sky. What

about it? Ryuji turned to face Aisaka again, and saw her smiling

happily,

"Don't you think it's tilted now?"

"What?! That's not possible! How can it tilt just by someone

kicking it..."

Ryuji had a look at the barbed wire beside the fence, and wasquickly overcome by horror,

"... Damn, it's really tilted!"

"Told you!"

Yes! I win! Aisaka smiled to herself. Of course, it was possible

that the pole was tilted to begin with; or maybe the barbed wire was

Toradora!

crooked all along. Instead of Aisaka kicking the pole off balance,

those two possibilities just sounded more plausible.

But Ryuji believed her...

He believed that the pole had indeed been kicked off balance by

Aisaka the Palmtop Tiger

Volume 1

"Isn't that obvious?! Jeez... it seems to be swollen up..."

Ryuji knelt to look carefully and fretted his brow. Under the

dimly lit streetlamp, he could clearly see on top of the tiny leg, a red

lump somewhere on that white skin.

" The pole must be very hard Ow !"


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Aisaka the Palmtop Tiger.

Because she was smiling, after all.

"... Shoot, is that a cop?"

Maybe it was because they were too noisy, as they saw asilhouette riding a bicycle coming towards their direction. It wasindeed a uniformed policeman. Ryuji frantically turned to Aisaka,

"This is bad, let's get the hell outta here! Huh... what's wrong?

You okay?!"

Ryuji looked at the fool that simply sat there without moving.

"It hurts..."

"No way!"

Aisaka was still looking very pumped up when she attacked the

pole. Now she sat with the edges of her skirt spread out, and she

rubbed her right knee with her tiny hand. She looked at Ryuji with a

hopeless expression,

"I think, I may have knocked myself during the kick... Ow!"

Her mouth turned into an inverted V-shape. Oh dear! Ryuji

scratched his head,

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... The pole must be very hard... Ow...!

"Of course it is! Really..."

Ryuji sighed deeply. You're hopeless. He then knelt with his

back towards her... I guess this is what they call chivalry. He

seemed to be enjoying such a feeling as well.

"Come, I'll carry you. Hey, wait... UMPH!"

He was looking forward to carrying her, but he forgot one thing:

she was the Palmtop Tiger after all. Despite the pain in her leg, she

still managed to leap up with a great force and land on Ryuji's back.

She even held tightly onto Ryuji's neck, causing him to nearly

suffocate.

"I... I can't... breath..."

Ryuji frantically slapped on Aisaka's hand, which was pressed

against his windpipe and artery, trying to tell her that his life was indanger.

"Oh no, Ryuji! Isn't that a cop? We'd better run!"

Didn't I already say that a while ago?! ... As his throat was being

strangled and unable to talk, Ryuji had no choice but to startrunning.

Toradora!

Taking the long route into a quiet alley, Ryuji ran silently in the

dark. They had come to a small alley without any illumination. In

this surreal silence, no one said anything. Sensing each other's

warmth, they didn't even convey how scary they felt to each other.

Ryuji was indeed carrying Aisaka on his back.

Volume 1

Ryuji stretched his hand and touched Aisaka's burning forehead -

since i

toradora! volume 01

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